The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis is a young adult fiction book taking place in the capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul. The novel goes through the life of Parvana and her family as they try to survive in the midst of a war taking place right in their city. Parvana is an eleven year old girl, who lives with her parents and many siblings in Kabul. She helps her father work as a translator in the town marketplace to support her family. Women are very oppressed in her country, so her mother can no longer work, which put her and her family in a rough situation. Many shocking changes occur in their town under the Taliban's rule, which is really effects Parvana emotionally. Women are not allowed to leave the house anymore, they can not receive and education, and can not pursue an education. For Parvana and her family this means they can no longer live comfortably, and have to relocate. I enjoyed this book for a different reason then most of the books I read. Normally I enjoy being able to relate to a book, its setting, and plot. However “The Breadwinner” takes place in a completely different setting and has a wild plot, that not many people can relate too. The story did not fail to relate in other ways, such as morals and family, so I did not feel completely disconnected from the characters. The Author does a fantastic job at showing what life was like for a girl in Afghanistan. She manages to create a real sense of terror while moving the plot forward in a way that keeps you wanting to read. While this book was a great read, it was not one of my favorites. This book was a very easy and relax read, which makes it hard to dig into and write about. Often times I would struggle to be able to write posts because there was not much substance below the surface. With more challenging books you can make underlying connections and find more literary elements.
Parvana is an eleven year old girl, who lives with her parents and many siblings in Kabul. She helps her father work as a translator in the town marketplace to support her family. Women are very oppressed in her country, so her mother can no longer work, which put her and her family in a rough situation. Many shocking changes occur in their town under the Taliban's rule, which is really effects Parvana emotionally. Women are not allowed to leave the house anymore, they can not receive and education, and can not pursue an education. For Parvana and her family this means they can no longer live comfortably, and have to relocate.
I enjoyed this book for a different reason then most of the books I read. Normally I enjoy being able to relate to a book, its setting, and plot. However “The Breadwinner” takes place in a completely different setting and has a wild plot, that not many people can relate too. The story did not fail to relate in other ways, such as morals and family, so I did not feel completely disconnected from the characters. The Author does a fantastic job at showing what life was like for a girl in Afghanistan. She manages to create a real sense of terror while moving the plot forward in a way that keeps you wanting to read.
While this book was a great read, it was not one of my favorites. This book was a very easy and relax read, which makes it hard to dig into and write about. Often times I would struggle to be able to write posts because there was not much substance below the surface. With more challenging books you can make underlying connections and find more literary elements.